Point72 Asset Management L.P. Takes $5.64 Million Position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 162,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,638,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. owned about 0.21% of Avista at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Avista by 95.4% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 709,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,365,000 after purchasing an additional 346,540 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Avista during the 2nd quarter valued at $7,130,000. Peregrine Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avista during the 2nd quarter worth $6,506,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Avista by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,904,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $66,701,000 after buying an additional 174,951 shares during the period. Finally, Invenomic Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Avista in the fourth quarter valued at $4,960,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Bank of America assumed coverage on Avista in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avista

In other news, VP David J. Meyer sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.32, for a total value of $91,968.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,436 shares in the company, valued at $208,307.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Avista Price Performance

Avista stock opened at $38.66 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $38.55 and a 200-day moving average of $36.54. Avista Co. has a 52-week low of $30.53 and a 52-week high of $39.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.04, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.47.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $390.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $386.69 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 10.12%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.23 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.4 EPS for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.91%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 22nd. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.84%.

Avista Company Profile

Avista Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an electric and natural gas utility company. It operates in two segments, Avista Utilities and AEL&P. The Avista Utilities segment provides electric distribution and transmission, and natural gas distribution services in parts of eastern Washington and northern Idaho; and natural gas distribution services in parts of northeastern and southwestern Oregon, as well as generates electricity in Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and Montana.